"No; I am an English Marabout, and carry no arms, and have nothing to give away but medicines."
"Aye, an English Marabout, and not a merchant?"
"No; only a Marabout."
One of them. "We shall take your name as you have written it on this paper, and show it to our people. It will be esteemed precious by them; and if you ever wander that way through The Desert, they will ask you your name, and, if you reply to it, they will not kill you, but give you plenty of camel's milk. If they have not your name they may kill you, and not their fault."
Had a visit from the Sheikh of the slaves. In most countries of North Africa there is a chief appointed by Government for any particular race, not the same as the ruling dynasty, domestic as well as foreign, which may be resident in the towns and cities. So the Jews of Barbary have their chiefs, and the slaves theirs. In Tunis a number of free coloured people, called Waraghleeah, emigrants from the Algerian oasis of Warklah, have also their chief or headsman. This chief has rather large and even discretionary powers, and can order his subjects to be imprisoned by the officers of the sovereign Government of the country. But, of course, this imperium in imperio is subject to the supervision of the supreme Government. The object is apparently to relieve the Government, but whilst it relieves the higher authorities, it inflicts irreparable injuries upon poor people, and is full of the most gigantic abuses. It is often complained of by the Levant correspondents of newspapers, under the character of the various spiritual tribunals of Eastern Christians inflicting fines, torture, and imprisonment on refractory or heretic members of those churches. The Jewish synods of Africa and the East exercise the same arbitrary powers, under the sanction of the supreme Mahometan authorities. Lately, however, the European ambassadors have done something to check these abuses in the dominions of the Porte.
After some conversation, I asked the Sheikh of the Ghadames slaves what were his duties. Drawing himself up into a posture of authority, he replied:—"Be it known, Oh Christian! I am the Sheikh of the slaves, my name is Ahmed. I am from Timbuctoo. The people of Bambara are the finest in the world. They are brave—they fear none. Now, hear me: I know all the names of the slaves in Ghadames: I watch over all their conduct, to punish them when they behave badly, to praise them when they do well. They all fear me. For my trouble I receive nothing. I am a slave myself. I rarely punish the slaves. We have always here more than two hundred. If you wait, plenty of slaves will soon come from Soudan!"
Late to-night, Mohammed the Marabout of Rujban, left for his country and Tripoli. I gave him some Ghadames dates to take to Tripoli as presents, the small black dates, as a rarity, and to let the people know I had not so much forgotten them as they had forgotten me. This clever, cunning, selfish fellow, I completely overreached. He never believed that I had the courage to punish his bad conduct. I had promised him, besides the ten mahboubs (about forty shillings), the hire of the two camels from Tripoli to Ghadames, a present, or backsheesh of two mahboubs, on his behaving well. On paying him his ten mahboubs I told him there was no backsheesh. At first he was astonished and looked pale, shaking in every limb, for he expected to reap a great harvest by my affair—even a double present to what was promised. But on reflecting that he had lamed Said, who was still laid up, had pilfered our provisions all the way, and lived on us by force, although the agreement was that he should keep himself, he confessed I was right, or thought it better to make the confession. However, he beat about the merchants, and got two or three of them to come down to speak to me, who said, "If he has done bad, treat him bad, that is, give him a little backsheesh." I then gave him half a dollar. His ingenuity was never exhausted. He pretended I ought to feed the camels two or three days after their arrival, which he said was the rule. There is no herbage for miles in the neighbourhood of Ghadames. The people are sometimes obliged to drive their camels to Seenawan, or Derge, two or three days' distance, to feed. I gave way, and added a trifle. He then begged something for his wife; he had bought her a pair of Ghadames shoes, worked with silk, which shows an Arab can have an affectionate remembrance for his wife, but which has been denied by some. I again added something. He now had his supper. I gave him a feed of mutton, and broth and bread. This was his feast before parting, for I did not like to send him away as a blackguard, notwithstanding he had extremely annoyed me. I never saw a person eat with such voracity. After his allowance, or the supper I had cooked him, a large supper was sent in by the Rais for three. He set to and ate his own and Said's share in the bargain. I have often seen Arabs gorge in this way, but, what is most singular, when obliged to be abstemious they scarcely eat the amount of two penny loaves per day. Mohammed was a good type of this Arab abstemiousness and voracity. When he kept himself, he only took a small and most frugal meal once a day. Of his gluttony I may add, that I was obliged to separate his mess from that of Said when he dined with me. If not, he would eat Said's mess and his own before I could see what they were about. At last Mohammed began to soften and to confess adroitly, for he was one of the acutest Arabs I ever met with. He observed to me, in a whining tone, "Now I am going, I wish to tell you something. You think me very bad, and a great rogue, and so I am; but, I tell you, if you had had any other Arab you would have found him a thousand times a bigger rogue than myself, for all the Arabs are dogs. This is the truth: (El-khok.)" After this confession, I gave him a certificate of my having arrived safe in Ghadames under his guidance. This I could not object to do, in order that he might show it to the Pasha and the English Consul. Some of his remarks were full of sel, but mostly touched with selfishness. One evening, looking at his camels feeding, he said, "Ah, Yâkob, see those camels eat. It does my heart good to see them, for what am I without my camels, what are the Arabs without the camels—are not the camels the pillars which support the Arab's house?" At other times he would abuse his fellow camel-drivers for coming into my tent, upbraiding them,—"What, do you want to rob The Christian? Am not I encharged with his affairs?" Mohammed was rather tall, and of lean habit of body, like all Arabs. His hearing and sight were very quick, and he always seemed to sleep like a watch-dog. His bravery I never tested. He was mostly lively and facetious. He was good-looking, and about thirty years of age.
I saw him after my return to Tripoli. He wanted to go with me again. He said to me, "Now you have seen all, The Mountains, The Sahara, and the Touaricks. You know all our affairs, and everything we do." As a literary curiosity, I shall here translate my camel-driver's account of the route from Tripoli to Ghadames, written at my request, in which will be seen the camel-driver's minute acquaintance with the route, and how every wady, and well, and mountain, is particularized. This is the style of the Saharan travellers and chroniclers.
"First Tripoli, and not far from it are palms of El-Hamabaj, and a mosque El-Kajeej. You then proceed to Gargash, in which are palms, and along the road the Kesar Jahaly. And you go on to Janzour, in which are palms and two castles, one of them is called Kesar Areek, and the Kesar of the Turkish soldiers (God curse them!) Upon the sea-shore is the mosque of Sidi Abd-el-Jeleel. And you proceed to Seid, where are palms and the Indian fig. And you go on to Ghafeeah, and here is cool refreshing water, (oh! how delicious in the great heat!) and you pass the water to El-Toubeem, where are palms, and mosques, and houses. You go on to Zaweeah, where are palms, houses, and a Kesar for troops, and a Zaweeah for the reading of The Sublime Koran, and mosques. You proceed thence to Houshel, in which are palms and houses. You move on to Aabareeah, where are palms. You now reach The Sahara, where there is a little sand; you find in it the well of El-Hamra. Pursuing your way upon The Sahara, you find the well of Esh-Shaibeeah. And travelling on The Sahara you find another well called Lakhreej. You travel further on The Sahara, and find Afoub Aaly, where there is sand, called El-Hal. And after it, you find Wady Lethel, in which are lote-trees and the lethel, a large tree like an olive-tree. And you travel to El-Jibel, where are houses and a Kesar for troops. In the country called Yefran, are olive-trees and fig-trees; and below the country (or in the plains), you find palms. And near El-Gibel, in all the countries you find olive-trees and fig-trees, as far as the other mountains westward. Now Rujban (my happy country, the blessing of God on it!) has seven countries, viz.:—El-Barahem, and Tarkat, and Sharn, and Zâferan, and Ghalat, and Zantan, and Tarbeeah.
"We mounted from Rujban and from El-Gibel, and went to Eth-Tha, where is Koteet, between Ez-Zantan and Rujban. Thence we travelled to Wady Souk-ej-Jeen. Thence to Haram and Et-Teen. And we travelled to Wady-Azgheer, and afterwards Wady Walas. Thence we arrived again on The Sahara, called El-Hamrad, which is fertile[20] land, and on it are lote-trees, bearing berries (nebek). Now, oh Yâkob! this is not the lote-tree in the seventh heaven, near the presence of Rubbee (God), and which Gabriel, nor our lord Mahomet, dare not pass beyond. Alas! O Yâkob, if you believe not in Mahomet, you cannot be near this lote-tree. It says in the Koran, 'It covers the concealed[21].' And we ascended a hill,—a high hill, that is to say, a little mountain. And we ascended (descended?) to a wady, called Ahween, in which is a well on the west of the route. And after this is Eshâab, small wadys, called Eshâab Eth-Thoueeb, and after them is Wady Seelas, where there is a well of water. You pass by it on the road, and come to Seenawan, in which is a spring of water, called Spring Aly. In Seenawan are palms, and its ghotbah is like a tower (burge), built with small stones, and so of the country (village) near it. And after this is the country Esh-Shâour, where there is water from springs which run upon the face of the earth, and palms and houses built with small stones. From The Mountains to Seenawan are four days with heavily laden camels.
